Coronavirus outbreak reported at Royal Mail delivery office as staff test positive

An outbreak of coronavirus has been confirmed at a Royal Mail delivery office.

A number of postal workers have tested positive for Covid-19 at the site on Station Road in Chester.

Although the exact figure has not been revealed, the sorting office will remain open, CheshireLive reports.

Bosses say a deep clean has taken place in light of the positive cases among the workforce.

They have also confirmed that strict social distancing measures will continue to be in place – including just one staff member per delivery vehicle.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Royal Mail takes the health and safety of its colleagues, its customers and the local communities in which we operate very seriously.

“Following positive tests for coronavirus at our Chester Delivery Office, managers arranged an intense, enhanced clean of the building.

“We continue to enforce strict social distancing measures at the office. As part of this process, we only permit one person per delivery vehicle.

“We continue to focus on providing a high standard of service to the local community.”

It comes after a number of indoor-based workplaces have reported outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.

Rowan Foods in Wrexham has now had 166 positive cases of Covid-19.

Public Health Wales are now urgently trying to trace the workers who have been potentially exposed to the virus in order to stop the spread of the disease.

While on Thursday, the Saltney branch of Morrisons confirmed that a staff member was recovering after testing positive this week.

Around 550 cases of Covid have been discovered in the last few days at food factories in towns including Merthyr Tydfil, Wrexham and Llangefni in Wales, and Cleckheaton in West Yorks.

A a bed factory in Batley, which is near Cleckheaton, also reported a number of cases.

Meanwhile, Bradford, Barnsley and Rochdale, the three towns with the next highest number of new cases after Leicester, also have high numbers of people in insecure, low-paid, often zero hours, work.

Some of the factories worst hit employ large percentages of migrant labour. In normal times, these are vulnerable and easily exploited workforces.